Sociodemographic and health status differences in delaying medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults: findings from the Health and Retirement Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, adults in the United States reported delaying medical care, which may be tied risk of infection and local policies limiting appointment. Some populations may have been more likely to delay care than others, leading to other forms of health inequality during this period. To-date there is little research on delayed care among U.S. older adult. We determine the prevalence of delayed medical care among older adults and investigate sociodemographic and health status inequalities in delaying health care.

Method

We used data from the first public release of the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study COVID-19 Subsample (N = 3006). Using logistic regression, we assessed whether differences in delaying health care varied by age,

SUBMITTER: Farina MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9463671 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature